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Lafayette voters to decide whether to amend growth cap

Residential building permits issued by city now limited to 200 a year

By John Aguilar Camera Staff Writer

Posted:
10/21/2012 05:00:00 PM MDT

Ballot Question 2B

The ballot question asks Lafayette voters to amend the city's residential growth management code to extend and retain the aggregate 1,200-building permit cap for a six-year period, but allow the City Council to set the number of annual permit allocations.

Residential permits granted in Lafayette

2006 -- 133

2007 -- 33

2008 -- 191

2009 -- 109

2010 -- 35

2011 -- 309*

Source: city of Lafayette

*includes 74 units at Josephine Commons and 45 units at Affinity that are exempt from the growth management initiative

Lafayette voters next month will get a fourth crack at extending the city's 17-year-old growth management initiative, which limits the number of residential permits the city gives out to builders each year.

But this time, Ballot Question 2B doesn't simply ask voters to re-up the growth cap. Rather, it includes flexibility year to year that lets the city issue more permits than the 200 now allowed annually. The overall cap of 1,200 building permits over the six-year life of the measure -- which would be in effect from 2013 through 2018 -- would remain the same.

Lafayette Planning Director Phillip Patterson said the strict annual limits now in place don't allow the city to react to an ever-changing real estate market. In the past, developers have chosen not to present projects to the city because of the annual cap, he said.

"We believe the overall 1,200 number still works; we just think we need a little more flexibility in each of those six years to respond to fluctuations in the market," Patterson said.

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Voters first passed the growth management initiative in 1995, which was designed to hold the city's annual growth rate to 3 percent. Voters extended it in 2001 and 2007. The current initiative is set to expire at the end of the year.

Patterson said building annual flexibility into the measure will allow projects to finish faster, which has instant advantages for the surrounding community and for the city in terms of tax and building fee collections.

"If they can reach buildout sooner, that's better for the developer, the city and the neighborhood," he said. "We won't have that construction activity strung out over a longer period of time."

Lafayette has seen several residential projects sprout from the ground recently, including the 250-unit Prana apartment building near Exempla Good Samaritan Medical Center and 74 units for senior citizens at Josephine Commons.

Another 250 apartment units are destined for the south side of town, while Affinity at Lafayette, another residential project for seniors, continues to rise across Baseline Road from the King Soopers. Meanwhile, Coal Creek Village North is set to bring 65 duplexes and single-family homes to the city over the next few years. Lafayette has a buildout population goal in its comprehensive plan of 30,000 to 35,000 residents.

City spokeswoman Debbie Wilmot said allocating building permits on a basis that reflects the realities on the ground will better serve Lafayette, especially when the economy picks up and builders start moving earth again.

"Knowing that, when we come out of the housing slump, it might mean we are able to react to some infill projects coming up," she said.

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